Andy Murray remains hopeful of playing at Wimbledon but admits he has a "long
way to go" before he is 100 per cent fit.

Andy Murray is sitting out the French Open, which started today, in a bid to improve a long-standing back problem.

He announced he would miss Roland Garros a week after retiring from his clash with Marcel Granollers in Rome on May 15 but said at the time he was optimistic he would be fit enough to compete at SW19.

That remains the case but the world number two is facing a race against time with Wimbledon starting on June 24.

Asked if he would be able to compete in the season's third grand slam, Murray told ESPN: "That's the plan. The grass is a bit easier on my back than the clay and I am hoping that Wimbledon is going to be fine.

"I am going to try to get myself ready to play (the warm-up event) at Queen's but I just have to wait and see."

Having given the back complete rest, Murray has recently returned to the practice court but has been limited in what he can do.

"I have been doing three hours of rehab and treatment every day to make sure it's as good as possible for the grass court stretch but I still have a process I am going through to build up my training to see if I have any setbacks or not when I start to push a little bit more," he said.

"I have hit some balls the last couple of days but I haven't been doing any movement on the court yet. I did 15 minutes the first day, 20 minutes on the second, I am just trying to build it up slowly.

"Hopefully by the grass court season I will be feeling better but it's a process I need to be patient through.

"It's very easy standing in the middle of the court having a controlled practice session for 30 minutes, it's another thing playing for four hours on a clay court or even a grass court when you are playing against the best players in the world.

"I have a long way to go before I am 100 per cent."

Murray revealed he had been living with the back problem for some time.

He added: "It's been tough, it's something I've been dealing with on and off for 18 months.

"It's worse on certain surfaces and in certain conditions and when it flares up it's tough to have it calm down.

"It has obviously been tough for me on the clay over the last couple of years. It's just something I have been having to deal with the last little while and hopefully it will get better."

Murray has reached the final at the last three majors - and claimed his first grand slam crown at the 2012 US Open - and he conceded it will be tough watching the French on television.

"It's the first time in a long time it has happened to me," he said.

"The French Open was very important for me this year to try to reach the final for the first time and to reach the final for the fourth major in a row. That's not happened many times.